One dead following mobile home fire

LOS LUNAS, N.M. (KRQE) - Fire officials in Valencia County are investigating a Dec. 25 house fire that killed one person on the 700 block of Juan P. Sanchez Road, South of Los Lunas.

Saturday evening, Valencia County Fire Chief Charles Eaton identified the victim as Kathy Zamora, 53. She was oxygen dependent.

Steven Chavez was staying with his in-laws next to the home Friday night. One of his relatives saw the flames and called 911.

Eaton said the blaze started around 8:34 p.m. and that Zamora was the only one in the home at the time.

Chavez didn't stop to think about his own safety when he tried to burst into the mobile home. He said he was only thinking about who could be inside.

"I jumped the gate over to see if someone was in the house, I kicked the front door down and I yelled for anybody, I heard nothing, the smoke rushed me out of the house," Chavez described.

Chavez said the fire spread quickly.

"The trailer was burning pretty quick, it was going pretty quickly, there was nothing really anybody could do," he said.

The deadly blaze had neighbors talking Saturday morning. One man told News 13 he heard loud booming noises coming from the mobile home as it burned.

Eaton said propane tanks were found near the front porch and in the back. He also said that some of the propane tanks at the scene were ruptured.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Zamora's body has been sent to the office of the medical investigator to determine her exact cause of death.